The temples, once open to public, attract thousands of devotees. The caretaker of the shrines is a board of temple trustees who collect the offerings and donations from the devotees. Several of the panchayat members are on the board, so the temples are only helping them get rich. But locals are deprived of the their rights to a better life.
Documenting this corruption, however, was a tough challenge for Devidas. When he asked the panchayat about the details of the money spent on temples, the panchayat refused to do so. So, Devidas filed an application under the Right to Information Act and found out that more than half of the money allocated for village development was diverted by panchayat.
However, after Devidas filed the RTI, it angered the panchayat members who accused Devidas of provoking the village to rebel. As a result this video took more than 2 months to complete. Finally Devidas was able to complete it because his community members supported him after they learnt of the fund diversion.
Devidas and his community members feel, while building a shrine or two is justified, spending lakhs on them is a gross injustice to them because the money wasn’t given to panchayat for shrines, but to provide the community facilities that they need such as better roads, housing, schools and healthcare.
He wants to see this divertion of development fund stop immediately and spent where it is meant to be spent – development of the village.
A Call for Research on AI’s Role in Amplifying the Insights of the Systemically Unheard
The article argues that systematically ignoring and silencing the voices of the poor and marginalized worldwide does not serve society or democracy well and must be countered. While new technologies such as AI could provide an opportunity for change, we contend that these technologies need to account more effectively for...